


if my heart was a compass (you'd be north)

by drgknyte



Category: Magisterium Series - Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Genre: Gen, Pokemon Au!, aaron finds him, and Havoc is a delight, call is lost, currently working on a nonsucky summary, i love Havoc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 16:01:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8452684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drgknyte/pseuds/drgknyte
Summary: Havoc barks, indignant, and shoves his head into the bag right past his ears. He comes up empty-mawed and accusatory. Call shrugs, feeling sheepish. “Sorry, boy. I have…” He digs for something again, anything. “… rawst berries?”(or; Call gets lost, Aaron finds him, and everything is kind of nice from there, not that Call would be any less reticent on the pain of torture.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> actually, FINALLY wrote a pokemon au !!! not entirely happy with this, but it was fun writing. sappy title is from Owl City's If My Heart Was a House <3 *nervous laughter*

Call groans, valiantly resisting the increasing magnetic attraction between his head and the nearest tree, and rubs his knuckles against his eyes. His Mightyena, Havoc, whines accordingly. 

“Why,” Call starts, “Why did you have to challenge that Purrloin, Havoc? How are we going to get home now? Dad would be so pissed if we’re not home by dinner.” 

By which he means, Alastair will regard him with disapointment behind his tired eyes. Being simply pissed off has long lost any effect it had once had on Call, having been subjected to it so frequently as to be numbed by it in his younger trickster years, but that _look_ of utter hopelessness and exasperation never fails to make Call feel five feet smaller. 

Havoc whines once more in placation and begins religiously sniffing the ground. It’s more an action born of wishful thinking than any actual hope that he’d be able to pick up their scent and lead them back to the city proper. 

They have been wandering blindly along the thick pines and sycamore trees for what must be hours now and the dull throbbing spreading from the heel of his limp leg shows for it, so he ambles towards the pine tree nearby and sits, leaning his back against it. 

“Are you hungry?” He knows he is. Call twists to slip his backpack free and slide it into his lap, rummaging. Havoc had already bounded to him, tail wagging, ears perked. He barks once and licks his face, delighted. Call laughs. “Okay, calm down, heathen. It’s here.”

His fingers have yet to make contact with the plasticware containing the Pokepuffs though. Frowning, he peers into his bag. He was sure he’d packed some this morning. Unless… “… I forgot to put them in the bag.” 

Havoc barks, indignant, and shoves his head into the bag right past his ears. He comes up empty-mawed and accusatory. Call shrugs, feeling sheepish. “Sorry, boy. I have…” He digs for something again, anything. “… rawst berries?”

His Mightyena sits heavily while eyeing him with passive-aggressive judgment. 

Call huffs. “Don’t give me that look. It’s your fault we’re lost.” 

A twig snaps somewhere near them and suddenlysuddenly Havoc is in front of him, growling. Call slips his bag into his shoulders again as he stands up, wary. He stares guardedly into a dark patch of shadows created by the trees and shrubs where he heard the sound come from. Aside from Havoc’s serrated growls, there’s silence, the kind that makes him awfully aware of the dropping temperature, the cold sweat gathering at the dip of his back. He’s not afraid, not really - he has Havoc, and Warren’s pokeball is still nestled snugly on his belt. But he’s also not a total idiot, despite his history. He knows the forest isn’t always an idyllic set-up of Pokemon diversity - it’s nature, there’s life and death, and it would be just unfortunate if he gets inbetween those in here, faraway (presumably) from the nearest civilization. 

His Dad’s warned him all about the dangers. 

So he’s careful, and silent, doesn’t make a single move as twigs and leaves begin snapping and crunching in the rhythm of confident footsteps. He has half a thought to hide that sizzles quickly when a boy, about his age, emerges from the shadows and waves once at him.

“Hey! I heard, uh, heard you talking,” his smile becomes sheepish, realizing the same moment as Call how that must imply some eavesdropping, “and I came to help?” 

He’d been walking steadily towards them, which he seems to have only realized when Havoc growls pointedly. To Call’s mild horror and utter confusion, the boy smiles brighter, producing a paper bag from a fannypack (an actual, functioning fannypack), and taps out Pokepuffs into his palm. He kneels. “I have some left. Here.” 

“Wait,” Call says, because he’s not an idiot, “how do we know that’s not poisoned?”

The boy gives him an offended look. “Nevermind it being impossible, but who would poison Pokemon?” 

Call opens his mouth. Closes it. “Right.” He gives Havoc a pointed look. “I give you full permission to use Crunch on him if he puts a toe out of line.” Which is more of a scare tactic than anything, because he knows for a fact once Havoc’s mouth gets in contact with the Pokepuffs, he’d be a goner. 

“I’m not gonna hurt either of you,” the boy insists as Havoc walks warily towards his open palm. He looks directly at him. “I just thought I might help you. If you want to accept it.” 

Oddly, Call sorta kind of believes him, his kind eyes and mild boyish excitement brightening his whole countenance. He doesn’t _look_ dangerous, so Call relaxes a little. Nods, which seems to make the boy happier. 

Havoc takes a single Pokepuff into his mouth, shudders once, and chows down like he’s biting a hole straight through the boy’s hand. Call is a little horrified for his sake, and embarassed for himself, but bites his tongue. There’s no point ordering Havoc to tone it down if there’s food involved. Instead he walks over, watches the boy raise an empty hand to pet Havoc gently on the head with complete ease, not even cringing when Call’s Mightyena licks his palm clean and snuffles inquiringly into his soccer jacket, a paw on his thigh. 

“Sorry, I don’t have any more left.” He pats Havoc mildly on the head once, smiling apologetically, and stands up to his feet. Wipes his slobbered hand on his jeans before holding it up to Call. “I’m Aaron, by the way.” 

“Call,” he responds, grasping Aaron’s hand without hesitation, because he’s handled the worst of Havoc’s excretions and slobber is by far the cleanest. “Think you can help us make our way back?” 

“We’re a long way from the city, but I can lead us there from here,” Aaron assures. “How’d you end up here, if I can ask?” There’s amusement glimmering in his eyes that says he might have some idea, which raises dull alarms in Call. It seems awfully suspicious for a complete stranger to appear out of nowhere this far into the woods, this close to dusk, and just coincidentally stumble into them. 

He plays it off in cool fashion, shrugs. “Thought a walk in the forest would be nice.” Actually, he was trying to escape his dad before he could bring him along to the automobile shop where he bought scraps for redesigning and the old women liked to pinch Call’s cheeks red despite being eight years too old for such a treatment, but Aaron doesn’t need to know that. “We met a Purrloin that Havoc - that’s my Mightyena - that he pissed off by barking at like a derranged mutt.” Havoc hangs his head sheepishly at this. “I think it used Confusion on us out of spite, and when we broke off the enchantment, we were lost.” 

Havoc barks twice in agreement. He’s been eyeing Aaron’s fanny pack with a particular gleam, but now he traipses over to Call as if to lend support to his story. Call smooths a hand over his pelt, feels a swell of relief to at least have his best friend with him for this whole ordeal, even if this boy turns completely psycho on them. It’s happened to him before. 

“Some Purrloin here get territotial, especially when they’re too young to expand hunting grounds, ” Aaron agrees. “Chasing it out of its territory… yeah, must have done it out of spite.” Call smothers a snort before it could get out. He would know how vindictively petty Purrloin are. Aaron glances at the deepening shadows around them, then looks at Call inquiringly. “I think we should be heading now? But then, we really can’t outrun nightfall this late.”

A red, arching spark shoots out from his fannypack (Call _cannot_ get over that) and materializes into a Luxray. “Lux,” it says at attention, looking to Aaron for directions. 

Aaron grins, pleased and proud, and rubs a hand across the Pokemon’s mane. “This is Luxray. We’ve been friends since I found her in these woods. She’s really good and easy to manage, aren’t you, girl?” Pressing into his hand, Luxray purrs. Aaron turns that spotlight-smile at Call. “She’ll use Flash when it gets too dark for us to see. Let’s go.” 

“Wait, wait,” Call’s blurting just as Havoc sets a paw to follow, “how’d you know where to find us? Like no offense, but I don’t normally trust random strangers I meet in the woods before dark.” He’s still suspicious and a little scared to find the answer. _Please, please, please don’t be a handsomely guised Team Rocket grunt._ It’s bad enough he and Havoc are lost, bad enough nightfall is at their heels, that his father would be giving him that _look_ again. The least fate could do is let him keep this sliver of hope.

Aaron’s smile turns abashed. “Heh,” he says, wincing, fingers curling into the hem of his jacket. “I, uh. Well. Funny story. I was kind of walking around the woods like I usually do, because the city life gets to me and stuff, and then I noticed you heading… somewhere. I didn’t think anything of it, at first. Trainers stray from the trails all the time. But then you appeared again, and again, and I realized you were walking around pretty much in a circle. So I, um, kind of maybe followed you around for the last half hour? Just to make sure if you were going the right way and wouldn’t hurt yourself though!” At Call’s frown, he quickly adds, “N-not that I didn’t think you could take care of yourself or anything! But I, uh, I figured you were lost, so I wanted to make sure you came home safe.” 

“Alright,” Call says. Surely somebody so terribly kind and sort of sweet couldn’t be so bad, right? “Alright. But I still don’t trust you 100%.” He has an image to uphold here. Can’t make it seem like he’s vulnerable to any show of kindness and damningly dimpled smiles from goody two-shoes boys. (And/or girls.) 

Aaron chuckles good naturedly. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from somebody who can’t trust his own sense of direction.” 

“Are you trying to make me hate you?” 

  
***** 

  
They arrive at the city proper at about past seven, the stars and street lamps glowing softly. Call’s actually having fun talking with Aaron, he won’t admit, but he slows his steps so they could spend a bit more time together, anyway. Luxray’s star-tipped tail remains alight as she and Havoc bicker and tumble all over each other behind them. 

“Are you sure?” Call asks dubiously. 

“Pretty,” is Aaron’s response. “I have to pass your street anyway to get to my foster parent’s house. Walking you there won’t be a big deal.” 

“If dad sees you and your Pokemon, he’d lowkey freak. He doesn’t trust them much. It took him a long while to accept the fact that I’m not giving Havoc up to anybody, even if it meant I had to runaway.” His Dad has his qualms because Call’s mother was mauled to death by a stampeding herd of Tauroses while researching them and twisted his leg, too, Call doesn’t add, because Aaron doesn’t need to know. 

There’s a question building behind his eyes, Call can tell, but Aaron thankfully doesn’t press. Instead he says, teasing, “Adults can’t resist my charms. I’m very confident I can win your father over.”

Call raises a brow. “Is that why you can stay in the forest all day?” 

“Well,” Aaron says. “My foster parents don’t really care one way or another. Or they do, I guess, but they don’t take notice of me too much because they have their own children to take care of. But - when I’m at the forest with Luxray, I feel like I belong. No barriers, no expectations. ”

The hope in his voice fills Call with a vague sense of relief, and contentment, though he doesn’t know why. Doesn’t know how they can be so open to each other, too, but he decides these doubts to be superficial. It’s sad but he’s already fifteen and he hasn’t had a friend like Aaron before, somebody who smiles openly and trusts him enough to tell him these things. Who looks at him and his broken leg and sees more than what he could have been.

He decides, too, that he’d like to keep this. 

When they reach his house, the light in the garage is open, which means his father is working on his latest project again. They hesitate at the sidewalk. “Thanks,” Call says. 

Aaron smiles kindly. “No problem.”

“Havoc, let’s go.” His Mightyena abandons his endeavor to catch Luxray’s tail with his paws and slinks back to Call in disappointment. Call feels a bit bad, so he reaches down to scratch at his ear. “Hey,” he ponders aloud. “Why didn’t you just help us out earlier than you did if you’ve just been following us around?”

“Your commentary with your Mightyena was funny,” Aaron says with a sheepish chuckle. His hands are in his jacket pockets and Luxray’s tail is curling languidly along his legs. “And I meant it when I said I thought you were capable of taking care of yourself.” 

Call snorts. “Obviously, you were wrong.”

Aaron shrugs. “Well, we don’t have school tomorrow. We can head out to the forest and put you to the test where it really matters.”

“Are you challenging me?” Call says, squinting. 

“Only if you think you’re up for it.” 

“It’s on, it’s so on,” Call responds to the lilting, teasing smile on Aaron’s face. If Call doesn’t know any better he would say there’s something almost hopeful there. “Get ready to loose. Havoc and I will incinerate you.” Havoc growls good naturedly to prove the point, and a spark of electricity sizzles across Luxray’s mane in response. 

Aaron’s smile turns into an excited beam. “Luxray and I will look forward to it, then. Good night.” 

Call doesn’t realize he’s smiling until he feels the stretch on his cheeks. “See you.” He waits until Aaron turns the corner, Luxray’s glowing tail disappearing behind an aspear shrub, before he turns away from the street and catches Havoc’s inquisitive look. “Oh, shut it. Don’t think I forgot you got us lost in the first place. Now come on. I think I owe you some Pokepuffs.” 

Havoc barks.


End file.
